Equipment for moving-picture machines



R. N. VYNE.

EQUIPMENT FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13, 1919.

1,341,527. Patented y 2551920.

A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEL RAY NICHOLAS VYNE, OF PRESCOTT,ARIZONA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD T0 RAY N.- VYNE, ONE-THIRD TO GARRETT O.VYNE, AND ONE-THIRD T0 HARRY J. SMITH,

ALL OF PRESCOTT, ARIZONA.

EQUIPMENT FOR MOVING-PICTURE MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25,1920.

Application filed May 13, 1919. Serial No. 296,920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAY N. VYNE, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Prescott, in the county of Yavapai and State of Arizona,have invented new and useful Improvements in Equipments forMoving-Picture Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

The invention relates to a fireproof booth or operators compartmentinstalled in a moving picture house and adapted to contain, at least,two moving picture projecting machines for successively projectingimages onto a distant screen.

The object of the invention is to provide certain new and usefulimprovements in equipments for moving picture machines whereby a shutteris interposed between the distant screen and the source of light of thecorresponding moving picture projecting machine used at the time with aView to prevent the undesirable red afterglow appearing on thedistantscreen on stopping the projecting machine in use at the time. Anotherobj ect is to keep one shutter of the nonactive machine closed while theother shutter for. the machine in use is open.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as hereinafter shown and described andthen specifically pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is an inner face view of the front wall of a booth or operatorsroom having two shutters controlled by a solenoid in series with one arelamp forming the source of light for the one projecting machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the shutter controllingsolenoid with part shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a. sectional plan view of a portion of the booth or operatorsroom on the line 44. of Fig. 1.

When two projecting machines are used in a fireproof booth or operatorsroom and the source of current for the arc lamps forming the sources oflight for the projecting machines is a mercury arc rectifier, a shuntmachine, a motor generator, a transformer or a rheostat it is commonpractice to use what is known in the motion picture business as stealingthe light from one arc lamp to another or, in other words, as both lampsare cut in parallel of the same line and with one lamp burning and thecarbons touched on the other lamp, then the current travels in the pathof least resistance on the carbons touching on the second lamp thusautomatically causing the are on the first lamp to be extinguished. Thischange, of course, takes place at the end of each reel or film with aview to permit of projecting a continuous picture upon the screen by thesuccessive use of the two projecting machines. l/Vhen the arc lamp onthe machine in use at the time is extinguished then its carbons glowafter the current has ceased to flow thus producing rays of light whichpass from the glowing carbons onto the distant screen, and this glowproduces a very undesirable red discoloration of the screen. In order toprevent this afterglow of the carbons to be projected onto the distantscreen use is made of a shutter mechanism interposed between the distantscreen and the arc lamp of the corresponding machine. As shown in thedrawings, use is made of the usual shutters 10 and 11' mounted to slidevertically in suitable bearings 12 and 13 attached to the inner face ofthe front wall 14 of the booth or operators room 15, said front wall 14having openings 16 and 17 for the passage of the images projected ontothe distant screen by the usual projecting machines mounted in the boothopposite the openings 16 and 17. The shutters 10 and 11 are hung oncords l8vand 19, preferably made of cotton, and attached at their upperends to the booth so that in case a fire breaks out in the booth thesuspending cords 18 and 19 are burned to allow the shutters 10 and 11 todrop and close the openings 16 and 17. The construction described iscommon in equipment of moving picture booths as now generally provided.The two suspending cords 18 and 19 for the shutters 10 and 12 passloosely through eyes 20 and 21 formed in the ends of a lever 22fulcrumed at 23 on the inner face of the front wall of the booth oroperators room. One side of the lever 22 is pivotally connected with alink 24 attached to the core 25 of a solenoid 26 mounted on a suitableframework 27 attached to a suitable support within the booth oroperators room. The wires 28 and 29 of the solenoid 26 are arranged inseries with an arc lamp 32 for the moving picture machine, disposedopposite the openings 16.

When the arc lamp 32 is burning, the solenoid 26 is energized and itscore 25 is now in uppermost position whereby the link 24 holds .thelever22 in the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby holding the shutter 10 inopen position while the shutter 11 is closed. The images projected bythe projecting machine opposite the opening 16 pass through this openingonto a distantscreen and when the reel has run out the operator startsthe other machine by touching the carbons of the arc lamp 33 to causethe current to pass through these carbons thereby automatically cuttingout the current from the carbons of the arc lamp 32 owing to the currentpassing by way of the least resistance. When the current for the carbons32 is cut out the electro-magnet 26 is deenergized and consequently thecore 25 drops by its own weight and in doing so the link 24 imparts aswinging motionto the lever 22 whereby the shutter 10 moves into closedposition relative to the opening 16 while the shutter 11 is raised touncover the opening 17 for the passage of the images from the secondmachine to the distant screen. It will be noticed that by thearrangement described the rays of light emanating from the glowingcarbonsof the extinguished arc lamp 32 cannot pass through the opening16 onto the distant screen owing to the closing of the shutter 10.

When the second reel of the second machine has been finished theoperator re-starts the first machine by touching the carbons on the arclamp 32 whereby the current is cut off from the arc lamp 33 and passesthrough the carbons of the are lamp 32 thus also supplying the solenoid26 with electrical energy to move the core 25 upward thereby reversingthe position of the lever 22. It is understood that when this takesplace the shutter 10 is raised while the shutter 11 is I light, fromreaching the screen, and actuating means for moving said means intointerposed position, said actuating means congrolllled by theextinguishing of the source of 2. In an equipment for projecting movingpictures by the successive use of at least two moving picture machines,shutters interposed between the distant screen and the sources of lightof the projecting machines,

one of the shutters for the machine in use at the time being open, andactuating means controlled by. the source of light in use at the time toautomatically close the said open shutter on extinguishing this sourceof light. 4.-. In an equipment for projecting moving pictures onto adistant screen, a booth having two openings at least through whichimages are adapted to be projected onto the distant screen by a movingpicture projecting machine at each opening, a source of light for eachprojecting machine, two shutters controlling the said openings, one ofthe shutters being open and the other being closed at the time of usingthe machine opposite to the open shutter, and electrical meanscontrolled by the said sources of light and connected with the saidshutters to close the open shutter and to move the closed shutter intoopen position on extinguishing the light of the machine in use at thetime.

5. In an equipment for projecting moving pictures onto a distant screen,a booth provided with two openings at least, through which images areadapted to be projected onto the distant screen by a moving pictureprojecting machine at each opening, arc lamps as the sources of lightfor each of said projecting machines, shutters controlling the saidopenings, a lever connected with the said shutters to alternately openand close the shutters, a solenoid connected with the said lever, and anelectric connection connecting the said solenoid with the arc lamps ofthe said projecting machines.

RAY NICHOLAS VYNE.

